Head of the Representative office of the UOC to the European international institutions Bishop Baryshevsky Victor (kotsaba)
The law on renaming of religious organizations is a clear disregard for the European legal values by the Ukrainian legislators.
The Ukrainian government made a rash political move, when it neglected international law and adopted the law on renaming of religious organizations, said the head of the Representative office of the UOC to the European international institutions Bishop Baryshevsky Victor (kotsaba) outreach Department.
“Even the Main scientific and expert Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine negatively assessed the bill and recommended it be rejected, – said the Bishop Victor. – Quite eloquent the quote is from paragraph 3, clause II of the conclusion of the same management, which States that “<…> the provisions of the bill contain elements of inconsistency with the Constitution of Ukraine that excludes the possibility of establishing specific requirements regarding the title and content of the statutes (regulations) of certain religious organizations (associations)”.
Hierarch of UOC-MP stressed that the Constitution has Supreme legal force, and therefore the new law cannot revoke the constitutional rights of citizens of Ukraine.
According to the head of the Representative office of the UOC at the European international organisations, bill No. 5309 “long will “black spot” in the history of Ukrainian parliamentarism will be heard at the international level as an example of ill-considered political step.”
If the pressure on the canonical Church will increase, the Council for human rights of the UN, the European Court of human rights and other international human rights organisations will arrive more and more complaints, commented on possible developments Bishop Victor.
He noted that in the adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine legislative act we are talking only about the organizations the control center which is located on the territory of the aggressor state. As the control center of the UOC is located in Kiev, de jure bill No. 5309 can not extend to canonical Church, explained Bishop Victor. And added that the pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church suggests the probability of attempts of politicians to apply the law to her.
If state officials insist on applying this law to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Victor, Ukraine are waiting for protracted litigation. After all, communities of the UOC have every right to challenge the actions of state officials and state agencies in court.
Earlier, Lord Victor noted that bill No. 5309 not only violates the Constitution of Ukraine, but also puts a spoke in the wheels of European integration processes of the state, because it violates basic rights and freedoms of any civilized society.